I

ter is testified by his pupil Hilderic in an epitaph which attributes to him piety, love, peaceableness, patience, simplicity, concord, in short, "every good quality at one and the same time." Charlemagne also repeatedly expresses his heartfelt affection and honor for the old man in the poems "Christe pater" and "Parvula rex Carolus." The king visited Monte Cassino in the spring of 787 and formed the project of improving monastic life in the Frankish kingdom from its example. Sometime after his return home he asked the abbot Theudemar to give him for this purpose a copy of the "Rule of the Order" from Benedict's original manuscript, and also to send him the monk Joseph whom he desired to place at the head of his own model cloister. The abbot assigned to our Paul the duty of answering the king in the name of the monastery. It is said that this became the occasion for a detailed explanation of the Rule, which Paul composed at the request of the abbot and monks. It was also after he returned to the cloister that he composed the sermons attributed to him, of which only four have been preserved,3 as well as the last and most important work of his life "The History of the Langobards." When he gave his Roman History to Adelperga he had the design of bringing it down at a later period to his own time. Other things had oc

1

1 Perhaps in 792 (see Dahn, 62).

2 Dahn (62-63) disputes Paul's authorship of this work. The MSS. are described by Bethmann, (302). considers the sermons not sufficiently authenticated.

Dahn (71)

curred in the meantime. The fall of the Langobard kingdom had made a great change. Now in the evening of a long and active life, from the sun-lit heights of the quiet monastery, he thought again of his old plan and carried it out in an altered form as the history of his own people into which he interwove what seemed appropriate in the history of the Frankish kingdom and (the Eastern empire. But before its completion, death carried the old man away. The 13th day of April was the day of his death, but the year is unknown. He was buried in the cloister near the chapter hall, and the monk of Salerno afterwards saw his epitaph, but at the present time every trace of his tomb has disappeared.

1 The connection between his Roman and Langobard histories is very close. The first is brought down to Totila's death in 552 and the 16th book closes with the statement that what remains to be said of the good fortune of the emperor Justinian is to be related in a subsequent book. This subsequent book never appeared, but the “ History of the Langobards" took its place. The events of Justinian's reign described in the Roman history, the Persian war, the conquest of Africa and the Gothic kingdom, are compressed into the smallest compass, while matters omitted in the Roman history are treated more in detail, e. g., the conquest of Amtalas, king of the Moors, the laws of Justinian, the building of St. Sophia and the general estimate of Justinian's character. The Gothic war is resumed at the point where the Roman history breaks off, that is—with the struggle between Narses and Buccellinus, A. D. 553, except that the account of the sending of auxiliary troops by the Langobards to Narses is prefixed to it, although this occurred during Totila's life (Mommsen, 77).

2

It occurred probably between A. D. 790 and 800 (Hodgkin, V, 78).

Paul's life was the life of a man of learning.' It was not given to him to develop great qualities. Quiet and modest, but honored and loved by all who lived with him, and dear to his royal and princely patrons, he found complete contentment in retirement and in his work as an instructor and author. No reproach has anywhere been made against him. No dishonorable trait appears in his work, or in his life. Everything which has been written to him or about him expresses only love and honor. Lofty flights were unknown to him; his fundamental traits were fidelity, devotion to his prince and love for his people. His religious tendency was of a practical and reasonable kind. He was disinclined to questions of dogmatic controversy and contemplative speculation. In his Life of St. Gregory he declares it unnecessary to relate miracles, since there is no need of them in order to judge of men.

Paul's culture belongs to the most comprehensive of his time. A Langobard by birth, he learned from childhood the language of his people, its laws, its customs and its old historic legends, the rich fragments of which adorn his historical work. The Latin language, the ancient and Christian authors and whatever else belongs to the culture of a churchman, he studied under one of the best teachers of the Langobard kingdom and perhaps (according to the statement of his pupil Hilderic) under the encouragement of the king himself. But what particularly distinguished him, especially in France, was his knowledge of Greek, which was there very rare.

1 Bethmann, 273.

His general learning was not inferior to his unusual knowledge of languages. The Bible, the fathers of the church, the current classics, Eutropius, Florus, Eusebius, Orosius, Prosper, Jordanes, Fortunatus, Gregory the Great, Gregory of Tours, Isidore Eugippius, the various lives of the popes, Marcus of Monte Cassino, Ambrosius, Autpert, Secundus of Trent, the old Langobard chronicle, Rothari's book of laws, the lives of Columban, Arnulf, etc., are mentioned and used by him, and they will be far from all that he has read.

His many-sided learning is shown in his manner of writing which evinces a diligent reading of the classics and much training. His language on the whole is correct, though barbarisms occur on account of the fact that the Latin language in the Middle Ages was by no means a dead one, but had a peculiar and inevitable development as a living tongue. These barbarisms are found in equal measure in all the writings of the time, not excepting Bede, Alcuin and Eginhard.'

1 After a thorough review of the manuscripts and their genealogies, Waitz (Neues Archiv I, p. 561), differing from Bethmann, attributes to Paul himself, and not merely to his copyists and transcribers, numerous departures from the ordinary rules of orthography and grammar. In addition to mere mistakes and variations in spelling, e. g., doctor for ductor (Paul Hist. Langob., II, 9), and irregular verbal forms, accesserant for acciderant (III, 5), sinebit (V, 8) erabamus (V, 40) vellit for vellet (II, 4), inruerit for inrueret (VI, 24); we find such expressions as mirum dictum for dictu (IV, 2); the use of domui as a genitive (VI, 16, 23); the omission of the final s in the genitive, e. g., superiori (IV, 16); caesarem used as vocative (III, 12); the forms juvenulus (V, 7), primis (I, 9) meaning "at first;" ad for a or ab, e. g., ad

Paul belongs in language and expression to the best Suavis (III, 7); adducunt for abducunt (IV, 37). Among the grammatical peculiarities are the interchange of genders, e. g., praefato sinodo (VI, 4), ad quod profectum (1, 4), fluvium quod (IV, 45), montem quoddam (III, 34), illud ornatum (V, 13), ritum imperiale (III, 12), alium consilium (VI, 36), talem votum (II, 27), multos pondus (III, 34).

The accusative is used for the ablative or other cases, e. g., manum for manu (VI, 32), gratiam for gratia (VI, 44), vitam exemptus est (VI, 56). ducatum expulit (VI, 57), adventum exterritus est (IV, 8), regnum potitus (VI, 35), hoc est magnum thesaurum (III, 11). The accusative absolute is used, e. g., vocatum interpretem (III, 2), vocatum pontificem (III, 12), Unulfum adscitum (V, 2). The nominative also is thus used, Franci cum Saxonibus pugnantes, magna stranges facta est (IV, 31); ad cerebrum ictus prevenieus, hostis ab equo dejectus est (IV, 37). Sometimes accusative and ablative are united, especially when two substantives belong to the participle, e. g., ordinatis Ibor et Aionem (I, 3), Adunatis gentibus Rugorumque partem (I, 19), Accepta obside sororem (V, 8); but also alone, facta pacem (III, 27), nemine scientem (IV, 40), relicto puerum (IV, 41), Cyrum ejecto (VI, 34), eum residente (VI, 37)—Also the nominative and ablative, extincto Mauricio ejus filius (IV, 36)—See also annum et mensibus (IV, 44), eodemque volumen, eodem codicem (I, 25), eodem ostium (V, 3), eodem cubiculum (V, 2), eadem urbem (II, 13), eadem civitatem (VI, 13), eadem basilicam (III, 23), eadem provinciam (VI, 24), cuncta suppellectilem (VI, 57), in medio campum (IV, 37), regia dignitatem (III, 35), subito adventum (V, 9), ei pugnaturum (II, 1), -We find also the use of improper cases after prepositions, in insulam communivit (VI, 19), Habitaverunt in Pannoniam (II, 7), in caelum apparuisse (IV, 15), in palatium manere (V, 4), in silvam latens (V, 39), in medium civitatis concremari fecit (VI, 49), in regnum gerebat principatum (VI, 23), in quam partem quiesceret (V, 34), cum victoriam (IV, 16), de adventum (V, 8), de Unulfum (V, 3), de Brittaniam (VI, 37), a Fano civitatem (VI, 57), ab orientis partem (II, 16), Pro redemptionem (VI, 40), sub regulae jugum